


Unrequited

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 08:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8243287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: James has a crush on Louisa. This is a problem because Louisa is hella gay.





	

“You have to talk to James,” said Alex, completely out of nowhere.

“What? Why?” asked Louisa, looking up from her staring out to sea. Something about the sparkling waves was fascinating.

“Because he’s in love with you,” said Alex.

“Oh yeah, I know that,” said Louisa, and returned her gaze to the sea. But Alex put a hand on her friend’s shoulder and turned her to face her.

“What? So you know and you just let him hope?” asked Alex. She looked angry.

“Yeah, I know he’s got a crush on me,” said Louisa with a shrug.

“It’s not just a crush, Louisa, he’s completely head over heels,” said Alex. Louisa frowned.

“I didn’t know that. How do you know?” asked Louisa.

“You’re asking me how I know what it looks like when someone’s in love,” said Alex, giving her a serious look.

“Good point,” said Louisa. She sighed. “I thought it was just a crush.”

“Well, it’s not,” said Alex. “And you need to let him down gently. He’ll still be hurt, but…”

“I’ll try,” said Louisa.

“Good luck,” said Alex. “I’ll pick up the pieces, don’t worry. A little pain now is better than utter heartbreak down the line.”

Louisa knew that her friend was right, but she still felt awful when she approached James later that day.

“Hey, James,” said Louisa, standing in front of him. “Can we talk?”

“We’re talking now, aren’t we?” said James. He looked excited, which made Louisa feel guilty.

“Somewhere more private,” said Louisa. She hated that she’d have to crush that light in his eyes.

James took Louisa into the inn, into his office. She didn’t know that he even had one, but it made sense.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” asked James, sitting in his large, plush office chair. Louisa sat down across from him. She took a deep breath before speaking, trying to gather her nerves.

“James, I know how you feel about me,” said Louisa. James blushed.

“Well, I haven’t exactly been trying to hide it,” said James, playing with some scraps of paper on his desk.

“You can’t love me,” said Louisa, knowing that she sounded blunt but unable to word it any better. “I mean, I know that you do but it’d never work out between us. Even if I wasn’t completely and utterly in love with Lisa, I’m gay. It would never work because you’re a guy and I’m just not into guys. I’m sorry.” Immediately, she wanted to take back those last two words. She felt like she was apologising for being gay.

“Oh,” said James, and he did look crushed. His fingers stilled, and he drew them back towards himself.

“There are plenty of other girls out there, James,” said Louisa. “Plenty of girls who actually do like guys.”

“Yeah, but they’re not you,” said James. There were tears in his eyes when Louisa could bring herself to look at him, and she sighed. “You help so many people, and you can actually make my sister genuinely smile. No one has been able to do that for years.”

“I’m sorry,” Louisa said again. She felt awkward, and wanted to leave. But would that make things worse?

“It’s not your fault I fell in love with you,” said James. “Or that you can’t love me back. I just keep falling for the wrong people. But at least this one isn’t dating my sister.”

“What?” asked Louisa, but James just waved for her to go. She left, and headed for the cannon platform where she’d left Alex.

“Did you tell him?” asked Alex.

“Yeah,” said Louisa. “And I feel awful.” She hugged herself, and Alex patted her on the shoulder.

“I know,” said Alex. “But it had to be done.”

“Have you ever had to do that?” asked Louisa. Alex nodded. “Did it feel like you were apologising for being gay?”

“Yeah,” said Alex. “But you know it’s not really that.”

“I hope I didn’t upset him too badly,” said Louisa. 

“Oh, don’t worry, he’ll get over it,” said Alex. “But hey, at least now he knows.”

“Yeah,” said Louisa. It might be a little awkward for a while, but hopefully not for too long. “At least he wasn’t too awful about it.”

“I might’ve threatened to beat him up if he ever says anything homophobic,” said Alex. Louisa giggled, which relieved a lot of the tension.

“Thanks, Alex,” she said, smiling at her friend.

“Thanks for telling him,” said Alex, and hugged her friend. “I’ll go comfort him now. You go do whatever.” Louisa nodded and walked around until she found her horse, then rode off for a new location.


End file.
